George f



(No Model.)

G. P. SEYMOUR. ADJUSTABLE PIPE'TONGS.

No. 538,601 Patented Apr. 30, 1895.

mtnesses: fizventoz NITED STATES ATENT GEORGE F. SEYMOUR, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO SAMUEL C. IRVING, OF SAME PLACE.

ADJ USTAB LE Pl PE-TONGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 538,601 dated April 30, 1 895.

Application filed August 10, 1894- Serial No. 519.970. (N0 model.)

Zo all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. SEYMOUR, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Pipe-Tongs; and I hereby declare the following specification and the drawings therewith to be a complete description of my improvements.

My invention relates to that class of adjustable implements whereby pipes of various diameters can be turned, and consists of a shank or stem with a fixed jaw and a movable jaw attached thereto, by means of links or plates crossing the main stem diagonally, and as nearly as possible in the line of strain, and held at various points from sliding, and against the working strain, by means of a detent or pawl engaging notches or teeth on the main stem or shank, near the main or fixed jaw this pawl being held by a spring acting also on the pivoted jaw, so the implement can operate after the manner of a ratchet, the pawl provided with a thumb plate, so it can be instantly disengaged and the movablejaws set to suit pipes of any size within the range of the implement.

The objects of my invention are celerity of adjustment in such implements, also to so dispose the material as to avoid transverse strain on the members, especially a bending strain upon the main member A and thus increase their strength, reducing their dimensions, and consequent weight of the complete implement.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side View of one of my improved adjustable pipetongs. Fig. 2 is an edge View of the same. Fig. 3 is a side view of the head or main parts when the jaws are distended to their extreme capacity. Fig. 4 is another side view in which the jaws are closed to fit the smallest pipe within their range. Fig. 5 is a detail showing more clearly the construction of the pawl by means of which the movable jaw is held.

Similar letters of reference are employed to denote corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

The main stem A is inade'preferably of steel, or if of iron is laid with steel at the serrated faces B and C. The hinged jaw D is also made of steel, or steel laid on its face at E.

The jaw D is madeintegral with the side bars F F that pass diagonally across the main stem A, and are pivoted on the studs G G that slide in the slots H H.

Between the side bars F F is a pawl I pivoted at J, and extending back in the form of a thumb piece K, by means of which the pawl is raised or disengaged at N. Beneath the thumb piece K, and pressing it upward, is a spring L resting on a cross bar M, attached to and forming a strut between the barsF F. This spring pressing upward or outward on the thumb piece K, and consequently downward 0n the pawl point'N, causes an upward 0r outward strain on the fulcrum J, and a turning strain on the pivot G of the bars F F, pressing the jaw D forward, as indicated by the arrows in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, producing in that direction an elastic pressure tending to keep the serrated faces E and B in contact with a pipe, and permitting a ratchet action, so that by moving the handle 0 through even a short are the jaw will release and engage automatically, and pipes can be turned in narrow places difficult of access.

By pressing down the thumb piece K, and disengaging the pawl point N, the jaw D can be slid outward to the position shownin Fig. 3, or inward to the position shown in Fig. 4, the pawl I engaging the notches at C, and thus adapting the implement to pipes of diameters varying as the dotted diagramsP and Q in the two figures named, or to any intermediate point as the notches at C will permit or determine.

Referring to, Fig. 3 of the drawings it will be seen by the points of contact on the pipe P that the principal strain will fall on the line a39s, or approximately parallel to the bars or plates FF, also approximately with the pawl I, and thus avoid transverse strain on the various members of the implement.

Having thus explained the nature and objects of my invention, what I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a pipe-turning implement, as herein described, a main stem, and a pivoted jaw sliding thereon, the latter formed integrally with links or bars crossing the main stem diagonally, in the line of principal strain, and between said links or bars a pawl that engages the main stem near its end and the jaw thereon so as to avoid bending strain upon the main stem, in the manner substantially and for the purposes described.

2. In an implement of the class described, the combination of a main stem serrated at the end to form a jaw and notched at the side, a pawl engaging said notched side, the links or bars that cross the main stem diagonally and in the line of principal strain and are formed integrally with a pivoted sliding jaw, the aforesaid pawl being pivoted between the said links, substantially as described.

3. In a pipe-turning implement, as herein described, a main stem and sliding jaw, the latter formed integrally with side links that have pivots sliding in recesses formed in the sides of the main stem; and between these links a pivoted pawl engaging the main stem vided with a pawl and thumb plate,in the manner shown; a spring to hold the pawl engaged, and also exert a closing strain on the movable jaw so it will remain in contact with the pipe to be turned, in the manner and for the purposes substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE F. SEYMOUR. lVitnesses:

ALFRED A. ENQUIRT, WILSON D. BENT, Jr. 

